Faculty Accolades

KING HONORED WITH BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING TEACHING AWARD FROM ASEE

CHRISTINE KING, assistant professor of teaching of biomedical engineering, received a 2022 Biomedical Engineering Teaching Award from the American Society for Engineering Education’s Biomedical Engineering Division. She attended the annual ASEE BED conference, June 26-29, in Minneapolis, Minn.

The award recognizes contributions in the field of biomedical engineering education by new faculty members as evidenced by innovative teaching materials, curricula, textbooks and/or professional papers and by activity in ASEE/BED or other biomedical engineering organizations. The committee was impressed with King’s pioneering work in BME education at this early stage in her career.

“I’m very proud of this award, not only as a UCI professor in biomedical engineering and to show the nation what our amazing department and school has to offer, but also as a member of ASEE BED and the connections it has brought me,” said King.

“I have learned from my ASEE mentors and peers how to bring our department’s undergraduate curriculum to the level required for our current students, and how to do this in an inclusive and supportive environment. This award epitomizes the need for support both nationally and locally from our peers on how to better train our students. We can’t do it alone, and we should all learn from respecting and growing from each other.”

She added, “I’d like to thank my supportive department and colleagues, my school and the ASEE BED. Without constant collaboration and learning from each other, we will never become better educators.”

LIU HONORED WITH CHANCELLOR’S FELLOW AND MID-CAREER AWARD

CHANG LIU, professor of biomedical engineering and director of the Center for Synthetic Biology, has been recognized by the UCI campus with two recent honors.

Liu has been named a Chancellor’s Fellow, effective July 1, 2022. Chancellor’s Fellows are faculty with tenure whose recent achievements in scholarship evidence extraordinary promise for world-class contributions to knowledge, and whose pattern of contributions shows a strong trajectory to distinction. The campus title carries an award of up to $25,000 per year for three years in support of research.

Liu has also received a 2021-22 Distinguished Mid-Career Faculty Award for Research from the UCI Academic Senate. The Senate Faculty Award recipients are nominated by colleagues. The recognition is given to those who have achieved excellence and brought significant distinction to UCI through their research, teaching, mentorship or service to the university and community. The Senate Awards provide the opportunity for faculty to recognize the outstanding achievements of colleagues and make them and their contributions better known to the UCI community and beyond.

Liu was acknowledged for his compelling work in engineering genetic systems for rapid mutation and evolution. It is among the most prestigious awards University of California faculty members can receive from their colleagues.

“I am honored to be recognized by these awards,” said Liu. “They are a testament to the dedication and creativity of the many wonderful young scientists in my group. I am also especially touched that these honors come from my colleagues and friends at UCI. I am grateful to be in their company.”

Zoran Nenadic, chair and professor of biomedical engineering, commended Liu: “Professor Liu’s groundbreaking independent work done in the last nine years since starting at UC Irvine is characterized by exceptional innovation, originality and impact. His work is published in the very top science venues and is performed by a large group of talented and well-mentored Ph.D. students and postdocs. While already impactful, his work is still in its infancy with many groundbreaking applications ahead. Professor Liu’s research is poised to blossom for years to come as it is based on powerful new ideas and concepts that his lab has developed, ones that are reshaping synthetic biology and bioengineering.”

LEE GIVEN TITLE OF DISTINCTION

BME’s ABRAHAM LEE has been named a UCI Chancellor’s Professor. The title of distinction – granted for a five-year renewable term – recognizes professors who have demonstrated unusual academic merit and whose continued promise for scholarly achievement is unusually high.

Lee’s research contributions are in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), BioMEMS and microfluidics or lab-on-a-chip technologies. Early in his career, he developed microactuators for microsurgical devices and later applied these technologies to the lab-on-a-chip/ microfluidics field. Notable microfluidic technologies pioneered in Lee’s lab include the magnetohydrodynamic micropump, dielectrophoresis for cell sorting, droplet microfluidics and cavity-bubble acoustic streaming transducers.

Recently, Lee’s research interests are in microfluidic precision medicine and include sorting and purification of stem cells, single cell analysis, hybrid particles for ultrasound-assisted drug delivery, point-ofcare diagnostics, blood sample preparation, liquid biopsy and microfluidic devices for perfused vascular 3D tissue constructs. He is director of the Center for Advanced Design and Manufacturing of Integrated Microfluidics (CADMIM), an NSF Industry/University Collaborative Research Center.

Lee’s research has contributed to the founding of several startup companies. He owns 55 issued U.S. patents and is author of more than 120 journals articles. Lee was awarded the 2009 Pioneers of Miniaturization Prize and is an elected fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, Royal Society of Chemistry, American Society of Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering Society.

FOUR UCI BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING FACULTY NAMED AIMBE FELLOWS

ELLIOT BOTVINICK, MICHELLE DIGMAN, CHANG LIU and WENDY LIU are among 152 medical and biological engineers who were inducted into the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering’s College of Fellows Class of 2022.

Each was selected for their outstanding contributions in their field. A prestigious professional distinction, the College of Fellows represents the top 2% of medical and biological engineers in the country.

Professor Botvinick was recognized for work in biophotonics and its use in medical devices and the study of biophysics in cell-tissue interactions. In his research, Botvinick studies the relationship between mechanical stresses on cells and molecular signaling or mechanotransduction. “I will continue to devote my life to improving our understanding of how cells sense tissues and to develop new technologies to aid in the treatment of diabetes,” he said. As an AIMBE fellow, I will embark on the next chapter of my career, which is to invent, develop, test and commercialize unprofitable medical devices for underserved groups, particularly in pediatrics. And more importantly, to build and share the resources for other scientists to do the same.”

Associate Professor Digman was acknowledged for her contributions to the development of and applications to fluorescence fluctuation spectroscopy and fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy. Digman’s research focuses on quantitative spatial and temporal correlation spectroscopy, protein dynamics during cell migration, characterizing metabolic alterations in cells and tissues, and developing novel imaging technologies.

“I want to thank my past and present group members, as well as collaborators for making so many things possible during this research journey,” said Digman. “I’m also excited to support AIMBE’s mission of advocacy in the field of biomedical engineering.”

The AIMBE selected Professor Chang Liu for his efforts in the fields of synthetic biology and directed evolution through the invention of in vivo hypermutation systems. He engineers specialized genetic systems that continuously and rapidly mutate user-selected genes in vivo. These systems allow researchers to evolve proteins at unprecedented speed, scale and depth in order to engineer new protein functions, probe the rules of evolution and understand the fundamental sequence-function relationships governing proteins and other macromolecules.

“I am delighted to be elected into the fellowship and look forward to fruitful interactions and endeavors with other members,” said Liu.

Professor Wendy Liu was recognized for contributions and service to the cell and tissue engineering community and advancing the field of immune cell mechanobiology. She uses bioengineering approaches to understand how the microenvironment regulates immune cell plasticity and immune-mediated wound healing. She is studying macrophages, innate immune cells that adopt a spectrum of functional phenotypes depending on their context and that play a major role in wound healing and disease.

“I am honored and excited to receive this recognition from AIMBE,” she said. “I am also extremely grateful for the wonderful colleagues at UCI who have provided a supportive environment, and all of my collaborators and students who have contributed to our work.”

AIMBE’s mission is to recognize excellence, advance public understanding, and accelerate medical and biological innovation. Its College of Fellows includes over 1,500 honorees who work in academia, industry, clinical practice and government.

KHINE NAMED INAUGURAL SAMUELI FELLOW

MICHELLE KHINE, biomedical engineering professor and associate dean for the Division of Undergraduate Education, has been named one of six inaugural Samueli Scholars by the UCI Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute.

The Samueli Scholars Award Program recognizes faculty whose achievements show extraordinary promise to advance basic, translational or clinical scholarship in integrative health and have a history of contributions of national distinction in their disciplines.

Her research involves developing innovative, low-cost and scalable point-of-care and continuous physiological monitoring solutions, including respiratory and blood pressure sensors. A fellow of the National Academy of Inventors and AIMBE, Khine blends her engineering research with entrepreneurship and has co-founded six start-up companies.

Khine’s current research goals are to implement integrative health interventions while monitoring patients’ response in real time. This includes a project to employ mindfulness training in children with severe autism as well as to monitor the physiological signals of meditative practice on stress reduction. With this work, she hopes to better understand the magnitude and temporal response to meditation, offering insight into the immediate benefits of meditation practice.

DING RECOGNIZED FOR EXCEPTIONAL TEACHING

FANGYUAN DING, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, was honored as part of the 2022 UCI Celebration of Teaching.

The event, coordinated by the Division of Teaching Excellence and Innovation, recognizes faculty, instructors and teaching assistants who have demonstrated excellence in undergraduate teaching. Nominated by peers, students and staff, awardees exemplify exceptional teaching across six award categories. This year’s event included a presentation of celebratory videos.

Ding received the Excellence in Pedagogical Development award, which acknowledges an instructor who has spent considerable time and effort engaging in various pedagogical development opportunities. This could include personal development, mentoring graduate students, or providing development opportunities to colleagues or departments.

“It is really an honor to win the Pedagogical Development Award this year,” said Ding, who was moved by the recognition. “To be very honest, I almost teared up when I saw the kind words from my nominator students. As junior faculty, I have done a lot of thinking about my teaching strategies, and now I know all my efforts have paid off.”

DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR EMERITUS MICHAEL BERNS

MICHAEL BERNS, UC Irvine Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Surgery and Biomedical Engineering, died at his home on Saturday, Aug. 13, 2022. The founding director of the UCI Beckman Laser Institute and Medical Clinic served on the UCI faculty for nearly half a century.

Berns earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Cornell University in 1964 and 1968, respectively. He came to UCI from the University of Michigan in 1973. He served as chair of the Department of Developmental and Cell Biology within the School of Biological Sciences, and also held appointments in the School of Medicine and Samueli School of Engineering. Berns co-founded, with Arnold Beckman, the Beckman Laser Institute and Medical Clinic in 1982 and served as its director until 2003. He was the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Professor from 1988-2020. Berns also founded the first Laser Microbeam Program and the UCI Photonic Incubator.

According to biomedical engineering department Chair Zoran Nenadic, in an email to the department staff and faculty, “Although a cell biologist by training, Michael was keenly aware that modern biological discoveries would be increasingly reliant on technological solutions. When Dr. Arnold Beckman showed up at Michael’s lab on a rainy morning four decades ago, he was fascinated by Michael’s work on laser microscopy and immediately recognized its potential. His endowment led to the creation of the world-renowned Beckman Laser Institute.”

Berns was also instrumental in pursuing the formation of UCI’s BME department. “Since a great deal of his work was in engineering and there was no bioengineering department at UCI, Michael, together with Bruce Tromberg and Steve George, had a vision to create one,” wrote Nenadic. “In 1998, they applied to the Whitaker Foundation Development Award, which was responsible for seeding many bioengineering/biomedical engineering departments nationwide. While easily the least developed program at the time, this group of enthusiasts shocked the BME world by winning the award. Michael, who was the principal investigator on the proposal, and the research infrastructure that he had built at the BLI were instrumental in persuading the reviewers.”

Berns’ pioneering work focused on the use of laser technology in medical and biological research. He developed tools and techniques for the surgical use of lasers, down to the level of manipulating single cells and individual chromosomes. He published extensively on the use of lasers in both biomedical research and medical treatment of illnesses, including skin disorders, vascular disease, eye problems and cancer.

Berns was an elected fellow/member in numerous scientific and engineering societies, including the Royal Society of Biology of Great Britain, the Academy of the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, and the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery. Most recently, he was recognized by the International Society for Optics and Photonics with the 2022 SPIE Gold Medal. In 1994, he was awarded the UCI Medal – the highest award at UCI for outstanding career achievements.

Berns’ scientific achievements were numerous and impactful. His work has been cited over 26,000 times, spanning the fields of developmental biology, DNA repair, mechanobiology, the cytoskeleton, fertility, preservation of endangered species and immunology, to name just a few.

Berns mentored former BLI director and current National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering Director Bruce Tromberg, as well as several UCI professors, including Vasan Venugopalan, Elliot Botvinick and Daryl Preece. “He artfully blended strong leadership with kindness, care and generosity toward budding scientists of all ages,” said Nenadic. “He will be dearly missed.”

Said UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman, in a message to the campus community, “Michael Berns will be greatly missed by his friends and professional colleagues around the world. The entire university community joins me in sending condolences to his devoted children, Greg and Tammy.”